It’s the 70th episode of Preheated, and the duo waste no time jumping into sunny Citrus Month. Andrea is pleased to see that fashion designers clearly got the memo about the month’s theme, as she is seeing tons of whimsical lemon-patterned clothing in the stores. She’s also not surprised that Stefin’s closet is already bursting with several items of citrus clothing!
Andrea offers a cautionary tale about keeping Meyer lemons in the house. These thin-skinned citrus fruits will turn orange as they ripen, which may confuse those foraging in the fruit bowl for an afternoon snack.
Stefin updates listeners on her 2018 baking resolution to organize her massive backlog of print recipes. Using the mantra, “Is it right for me right now?” she’s been able to recycle several pounds of paper. She’s also delighted to discover this organizing project it is much more entertaining than she had anticipated. In fact, it’s been much like opening a time capsule of personal food trends of the past 20 years. She clearly has a soft spot for oatmeal, frozen bananas, rhubarb, homemade soda, parsnips, spiced nuts, sangria and chard!
The month’s first bake along is a twist on a classic lemon treat: Sunny Lemon Bars from Bravetart author Stella Parks. Andrea was drawn to this recipe because it doesn’t use cornstarch to thicken the lemon custard, though the dozen eggs used in both custard and crust did give her (slight) pause. Join us in making this zesty treat, and share your pictures with our Facebook community!
Next up: Citrus 101. Andrea gives a run-down of the anatomy of a citrus fruit, from the zest to the juice. Stefin is still grateful for her friend’s revolutionary tip to turn her microplane zester over in order to zest with a minimum of mess. Andrea feels the same way about Stefin’s long-ago advice to freeze zest, and shares a new tip that you can actually freeze the entire fruit. (For a fun article about all-things lemon, visit one of our favorite resources, Whats Cooking America.)
Finally, the duo share a few of their fave citrus treats. Andrea loves a Shaker Lemon Pie, which uses the entire lemon. She is a huge fan of the Lemon Drizzle Cake introduced in Episode 45, which actually won her First Season Blue Ribbon. A recent variation she’s found is a Sour-Cream Lemon Syrup Cake from New Zealand. Finally, she loves a fresh squeeze of lemon on her brunch favorite Dutch Baby, which she first talked about in Episode 23.
Stefin loves the Key Lime Pie from the Blonde Giraffe in Key West, Florida, and, after years of searching in vain for their secret recipe, came up with her own version, which you can find here. She has made a lemon-cornmeal cake from Woman’s Day magazine for years, loving the variation of using half lemon and half lime juice in the drizzle glaze. Finally, she is a lifelong devotee of the British classic lemon curd, whether homemade or purchased from the “wall of preserves” at Fortnum & Masons.
Listeners: What are some of your favorite citrus desserts?
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